


Of Swords and Justice Alike

by DaggerFallen



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: Lack-two redemption, M/M, Unova Region, canon adjacent, galar region, lack really just needs some therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23614270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaggerFallen/pseuds/DaggerFallen
Summary: Lack-two is confused as to why the international police would fire someone so useful among their ranks, but after several failed attempts to get them to hire him back on he realizes that hes going to have to find purpose elsewhere. His search for any form of work similar to that of what he used to do lands him in the Galar region, where he makes an unlikely friend. Its then that Lack begins to realize that hes not as perfect as the international police would've had him believe while growing up.
Relationships: Lack-two/Soudo Tsurugi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	1. Fired

**Author's Note:**

> Friend on discord asked for Lack redemption, so I present to you, Lack Redemption... sort of. Give him a minute.

Fired? From the international police? It had been a bit difficult for Lack to grasp at first. After all he was a perfect employee. Not only had he always accomplished everything he had been tasked to do effectively, he had practically been raised by them after losing his parents. If they could do without him then why take him in to begin with?

The only good asset was a useful one after all and Lack knew that he was still plenty useful.

After everything had gone down with Team Plasma he tried to get the international police to rethink their decision, though ultimately it got him nowhere. Groveling at their doorstep was certainly not something he was willing or capable of doing, so it seemed he would have to find work elsewhere. Though how could he put his detective skills to work outside of a detective agency?

There was vigilante work, but that would be a last resort, that didn’t exactly fall in line with the law. The last thing he needed was the international police after him to throw him behind bars rather than to ask him to come back.

Lack had packed up his things and grabbed his Pokémon, making for the subways. It wasn’t a bad idea to assess his options. If anything, he could lie his way into a good job position. Giving them a nice attitude and several half-truths about his life could land him in some ideal places.

Ideally though he wanted to work somewhere high action so he could settle back into what he felt was his daily routine of reconnaissance and battling.

“Leaving for Mistralton City,” the announcement came over the speaker in the subway as Lack-two found a place to sit.

A nice-looking girl sat next to him, and he gave her a pseudo-smile, though there was no way she would be able to tell it wasn’t genuine of course. She gave him a cheery smile back, and he could tell she was in the mood to start a conversation, which wasn’t ideal.

Though he supposed he should keep up whatever reputation he had left in Unova.

“Hello there!” she greeted, “Headed to the airport?”

“I’m considering it,” he replied in a nice tone, though his currently lack of a job made it much less gratifying to keep this up.

“I’m going to the sunny beaches of Alola,” she gave him a grin, “I heard its wonderful around this time of year.” Lack made a mental note not to go to Alola if he planned on leaving Unova by the end of this.

“Is that so?” he replied with a smile of his own. He then turned on his phone to get a good look at some information about the other regions. If he was going to leave—which wasn’t a bad idea—then he would have to go somewhere that he could blend in well. Somewhere far away where the international police didn’t have much hold.

Kanto, Sinnoh, Hoenn and Johto were already out of the question considering that the international police had visited those regions rather frequently. Sinnoh the most, but the others were close enough that he would rather he just avoided those altogether.

“Thinking up a vacation spot?” she hummed.

“I’m actually looking for work,” he said in mock-embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh! Unova didn’t work out? I’m sorry to hear that,” he could feel her pity, but it made no difference to him. If this woman could help him get a better job, then it was a conversation he was willing to have. “You could travel to Alola, they have plenty of opportunities there.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ve found something already,” he lied and stood, feigning a stretch before simply walking to another cart. He would never see her again, so what would it matter anyways. For now, he needed to collect his thoughts, without distractions, and assess his options for a logical standpoint.

What was the most beneficial area of work for a thirteen-year-old looking for work? The answer was that likely he would either have to lie his way into a job, or he would have to wait until he was older. He would go with the former rather than the latter.

Lack stepped into the last subway car and stared out the window at the passing junctions. It was a choice between Kalos and Galar now. Kalos was recovering from an incident that had happened recently, so he decided to mark that one off. It would seem he would be heading to Galar for now.

Pokémon battles with passing trainers could get him enough money to live off of, and maybe even then some. Especially if he looked to areas with notably weaker Pokémon and trainers. Getting some extra cash could be a cakewalk, and it would give his Pokémon something to do as well.

Soon he was on a plane, Galar bound from the Mistralton airport. He sat in the back away from as many people as he could be, and surprisingly there weren’t that many people on their way to Galar from Unova at the moment, likely because there were new movies to be seen in Unova at the moment, not that Lack cared, he just liked to have precise information.

“Wild area… huh?” he murmured to himself, researching a bit on that as he sat alone. He didn’t mind the silence. He was almost glad for it.


	2. The Charismatic Tainer

The Galar region was a bit bigger than he had been expecting. The wild area alone was quite a bit different in comparison to the cramped city streets that seemed to make up most of Unova. It would take some getting use to, but it wasn’t anything Lack didn’t think he could handle.

After all, more wild space meant more aspiring trainers, so standing at the south gate was sure to get him a good amount of competition. Perhaps the recognition for his skill would start rumors as well. Rumors of strength almost always spread well, especially in regions with the gym challenges. While Lack had no interest in battling them himself, gaining attention from stronger trainers certainly had its perks.

Lack set down his bag and took a deep breath before letting a grin cross his face. He turned to the path to see what looked to be a trainer passing by, so he made his move

“Hey, you there!” he called, tossing up his pokeball and catching it enthusiastically, “Care for a match?”

The trainer smirked and ran over to him, “You’re on!”

…

It was an easy gig to keep up and Lack kept up that fake act of charisma. He smiled and laughed, flirted even sometimes and that seemed to attract all kinds of attention from many different trainers. Which of course meant more challenges, but the bulk of his visitors were still trainers in the making. It made things pretty easy for Lack.

People had even taken to calling him “The Charismatic Trainer” due to the personality that all his new fans seemed to love. Gaining a reputation like this in Galar certainly was something to be proud of.

Lack had more than enough money to find a place to rest every night now, enough for food and all that too. If he kept this up, he would be all set to go look for an actual job without the inconvenience of not having money while searching.

“So you’re the charismatic trainer I’ve been hearing about.”

Lack was sprung from his thoughts when a voice sounded far too close for him not to have noticed. He jumped just a little, quickly putting a bit of distance between the stranger and himself. He looked to the source of the voice, expecting that only a member of the international police could pull something like that with a trained officer.

Instead he found that his eyes landed on a very unamused boy, around his own age. Body language told him he was relaxed, but a bit annoyed. Lack let out a breath and gave a grin as he did with every other trainer. He reached for his pokeball and the boy put his hands up though and shook his head.

“I’m not here to battle you, I’m just passing through. I thought I would get a look at the spectacle everyone is talking about,” the boy shrugged, eyes trailing halfheartedly over Lack, “You’re not as cool as I thought you’d be.”

Lack found that a little odd to say the least, though it wasn’t as if he expected everyone to like him. Those who didn’t usually found him to try and “teach him a lesson”, not just stop by to get a look at him.

“Well, if you’re not here to battle then get a move on. I have better things I need to be doing,” he replied plainly. Spending any more time on someone who wasn’t interested in battle was a waste.

“Well usually people give their names. Mine is Soudo. Least you can do now is give me yours,” Soudo seemed a bit put off by Lack’s attitude. Not that Lack particularly cared.

“Lack-two,” he gave him his name, thinking that maybe someone as stubborn as Soudo seemed would leave if just given the information they asked for. This was clearly not the case. Lack watched people who would consider battling him walk by as they noticed he was having a conversation with someone else.

“Well Lack, lots of people think you’re a pretty cool guy, and there’s kids who look up to you. Only to have you treat them like garbage when they come to battle you. You may think it’s a cool gimmick, but you need to think about what you’re doing before you hurt someone,” Soudo gave him an irritated look, then settled back into his more calm appearance with a sigh.

They both stood there for a moment, eyes locked, and Lack could swear if for just a second Soudo could see his true thoughts. The frown that had followed their eye contact sure made it seem like it. Then Sou turned, not sparing another word as he began walking once again.

With that he was on his way, as quiet as when he had first arrived.

Lack watched him leave for a moment. A few moments ago, Lack wanted him gone, but now he found himself wanting to continue that conversation. He didn’t care about what people felt. No one here would have any significant impact in his life, so why worry about how he was perceived by the few instead of the many.

Lack got back to battling, not giving what Soudo had said another thought. It was pointless information from someone who’s opinion he didn’t care for. The fact that he was able to sneak up on Lack in the first place was what stuck with him more about the boy.

Of course, that wasn’t to say he didn’t understand what he had meant. Fighting new upcoming trainers was hardly an honorable feat, but it got the job done efficiently. Efficiency was what he needed right now. So, this continued on for a few more days.

About a week later Lack was approached by a very smug looking trainer. Tall, poised, they looked much more suited to actual combat rather than Pokémon battles. Lack could tell that this battle wouldn’t be their first, likely they had many years of training.

“You must be the charismatic wild area trainer I’ve been hearing about,” they smirked and pulled out a singular pokeball.

“Depends on who’s asking,” Lack shot the look back with false bravado while grabbing his own pokeball. This was nothing he couldn’t handle… at least that’s what he had thought.


	3. A Broken Sword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lack readies for battle against a mysterious opponent, but their power is unlike anything he's ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having a bit of writers block, so future updates might be a bit slow

Lack grit his teeth, watching as Dewott fell over in exhaustion. The challenger stood across from him with a wide sneer stretching across his face. This wasn’t any Pokémon he had ever seen before, which was saying something given the extensive research he had put into looking over Galar’s unique wildlife.

“Alright last one,” Lack drew in a breath and grabbed his last pokeball, tossing it, “Go, Keldemaru!”

The trainer laughed, “You’ve got a Unova legend on your team? Well, doesn’t bother me. My Urshifu is the legend of the Isle of Armor. You could train for years and never reach the level we’re at.” They guffawed.

“Urshifu…” Lack would have to commit that name to memory, and he would definitely have to look into it later after he had beat this trainer. He just needed strategy was all. Keldemaru could easily out speed the large bear Pokémon. So, his tactics would be dodges and fast attacks to whittle down at its endurance.

“Whatever you’re thinking, it won’t work,” they said, “Urshifu, single strike style!”

Lack watched with wide eyes as the bear lunged for the sword of justice. Before he could even shout for the Keldeo to dodge, a roaring fist came into contact with the Pokémon, followed by a sharp snap. The horse fell to the ground, shards landing in pieces around it.

When Lack ran forward to see what had happened, he almost couldn’t believe his eyes. Laying in pieces before an unconscious Keldeo were the remaining fragments of its horn. The sword of justice had shattered and Lack couldn’t even begin to think on how to repair it. It didn’t seem like something that would just… shatter like that.

“C’mon Urshifu, we don’t have time to waste on losers,” they called the Pokémon back with a scoff, “If you can break a sword of justice then there’s nothing standing between you and the champion!”

Lack had stopped listening at that point. His mind was going a mile a minute, trying to discern any details from anywhere that he could use to fix this situation. Even he had to admit that it was pretty dire. For now, all he could do was do his best to patch up Keldeo himself. Pokémon centers didn’t often have to deal with legendaries, so that felt a bit out of the question. Keldemaru’s vitals seemed fine after a revive and some potions, but it wouldn’t wake at all, it didn’t budge.

At this point it had started raining as the challenger walked away, just the thing to make this whole situation that much better.

He gave a sigh and put the Pokémon back in it pokeball. This wasn’t a predicament that he had thought he would encounter, though he supposed he should have been ready for anything. So with that he stood, wracking his brain for any information that he could possibly dig up. He was spending far too much time sitting here doing nothing.

“Hey,” a voice called, and he recognized it this time as Sou, quite frankly it wasn’t a voice he was expecting to hear at all. He turned to see the boy out of breath, hands on his knees, and looking at Lack with more concern in his eyes than he felt necessary.

“What?” he called to him, a bit too tired to keep up any sort of façade.

“I heard about a sword. I heard that its important, and that its broken,” he said, taking breaths between words. Lack wondered if the challenger had been loud mouthing about breaking a sword of justice while continuing on their way. He almost rolled his eyes at the thought.

“If it’s a sword then I’ll fix it, even if it belongs to you. If its important I’ll get it done, “ he said with determination, seemingly already having his mind made up about this before even talking to Lack about it in the first place.

“Its not just a sword,” Lack sighed, “It’s a sword of justice. Keldeo, actually.”

“What?” he looked to the pokeball in Lack’s hand, “What are you going to do? Will you fix it?”

“I have to find out how first,” Lack scowled at the pokeball, wondering where a Pokémon with that power even came from.

“Well… I’ll help.”

That snapped Lack from his thoughts on Urshifu pretty quick. He by no means wanted some random trainer to convince themselves that they could help with matters that Lack wasn’t even sure about solving himself.

“No, you’re not,” he said immediately.

“I am, because I know where to look, and I’m pretty sure that a Unovan like yourself doesn’t know much about Galar,” Sou shot back. Lack would’ve retorted again, but no amount of research would get him the same insider knowledge that a resident would have.

He thought over his options, and by the look on Sou’s face, it seemed like he would have to concede.


	4. Given Enough Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lack and Sou dont really get along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this one is a bit short.

“Where are we going?” Lack felt like he had asked this before, but the answer hadn’t felt entirely clear. Sou had mentioned something about a library, but he was too caught up in his thoughts to answer Lack clearly. This wasn’t very fun on Lack’s end.

“It’s a library, in Circhester,” he murmured.

At least that was something for Lack to go off of. He didn’t like not knowing where they were going at the given moment, especially when he wasn’t too sure about Sou just yet. There was a feeling that the boy gave him, and he had an inkling that the feeling wasn’t entirely good. He usually knew to trust his instincts on these sort of things, but for now he needed information, so he would have to wait it out.

“That’s further north, maybe we should find somewhere that sells clothing for colder weather,” Lack said. He hadn’t intended to leave the wild area for some time, so he wasn’t exactly prepared for a journey further north. Plus, a stop would be good, walking in silence as long as they had was beginning to wear him thin; especially with Sou being as vague as he was.

“I’ve got coat’s packed if you need one, and a tent if we need some shelter,” Sou said, which made Lack outwardly sigh, “Something wrong, Mr. Charisma?”

“It’s nothing that you have to worry about,” he said a little more coldly than he had intended, but the look on Sou’s face didn’t change or give any indication that he was thrown off by this fact. Lack fell a step behind to gather himself for a moment.

“You can drop the façade,” Sou said unexpectedly, “I don’t want you putting on a show while you’re talking to me. I’m not stupid.”

Lack stopped walking for a second to give him a confused look. He can’t say he hadn’t expected that Sou had seen through him, but hearing him say it out loud still caused a bit of a shock. Lack had encountered a few people like this, but not someone with such a calm expression about it all.

“Fine…” he murmured, catching up with him once again, but still walking about a half-step behind to keep an eye on him. He hadn’t seen Sou’s expression change once since that first time he came to talk to him about challenging trainers. That was the only time he had seen the peaceful expression change, well aside from when he was concerned about Keldeo.

Lack hated that it somewhat reminded him of himself in a way; he quickly shook that connection from his mind. He had something he needed to focus on currently, and that was finding a way to fix a sword of justice. That did bring to mind what Sou had said originally.

“You’re a smith? Is that a common job?” Lack asked, trying to be at least a little nicer for now, at least until he could discern any further intentions that he had.

“I am, and its not a very popular trade,” Sou responded, “But someone has to fix up works lost to the ages.” A certain determination filled his voice at that Lack almost wished he could muster in himself. Almost. The topic was brought to a close rather quickly however when it began to rain lightly.

“I’ll set up the tent,” Sou said, but it wasn’t like Lack was going to put himself in close proximity with someone who’s intentions were unclear at the moment. For all he knew Sou could make off with his Pokémon while he was asleep, even if he didn’t give off that kind of vibe.

Lack instead leaned against a tree where the water didn’t hit him as much. Though a jacket hit him in the face not a second later. He caught it and glared a bit at Sou.

“If you’re going to be stubborn, at least put on a jacket so you don’t freeze to death,” Sou jabbed, then got in the tent that he had been setting up.

Lack scoffed and slid the jacket on. He had expected it to be too small, but it wasn’t too bad. He rested his eyes for a moment, letting his mind relax for the first time in what felt like ages as he listened to the rain.

Galar was different from Unova. It sounded different, smelled different, looked different. Maybe he would feel different too; if given enough time. Lack looked to the tent, then gazed back at the grass.


End file.
